Terms and conditions

We want you to have a brilliant day with us. That’s the most important thing.

But sometimes we have to show our grown-up side.

So, we’ve got some general rules to help us make sure your day is both brilliant and safe. Please take the time to read through these and our terms and conditions carefully. It’s how we can make sure there won’t be any unpleasant surprises when you visit.

Here’s everything you might want to know.

General

Please follow the information on signs and the advice of our staff at all times, it’s for your safety.

We’re a rural attraction, spread out over a large area, so it’s sensible to wear appropriate footwear.

We reserve the right to refuse admission, or remove visitors from the park whose behaviour is deemed inappropriate by our staff.

Children are the responsibility of their parents/guardians at all times. Visitors under the age of 14 must have an adult with them.

Because nature is unpredictable and the welfare of our animals is paramount, feeding routines, demonstrations, talks and shows may be adjusted without notice. We reserve the right to withdraw any attraction without notice.

2019 prices are valid until 14 February 2020. We reserve the right to change our prices or withdraw promotions at any time. We occasionally run online promotions and refunds cannot be made on any tickets purchased before the promotion start date.

The welfare of our animals is vitally important. Which is why we don’t let dogs in the park (apart from guide dogs with up-to-date vaccinations). Also, for the dogs’ wellbeing, we don’t allow anyone to leave them in a car by themselves in our car park. If you need to bring your dog with you, we’ve teamed up with these day kennels, where you can leave your pet while you’re enjoying Folly Farm.

Please note extra charges apply to some of our optional attractions. Fairground tokens are non-refundable but can be used as payment in our gift shop.

Please check our opening times before you visit, we’d hate for you to have a wasted journey. This is really important if you’re an annual pass holder as we close mid-week over the winter months.

We’re sorry but we can’t be held responsible for incorrect information on external websites so please always check our website. If you spot any out of date information please let us know and we can contact them to have it changed.

During quieter times our rides run on rotation and some of our catering outlets are subject to seasonal opening variations too.

Online tickets

All online tickets are non-refundable.

Our online day tickets are valid for three months from date of purchase, online gift tickets, annual passes and animal experience tickets are valid for 12 months. Please use them before the expiry date as we can’t give refunds if you don’t.

Our online day tickets have a 15% discount, we reserve the right to change this at any time.

Defaced or altered tickets may be void and the holder will be refused admission.

Proof of entitlement for certain online ticket purchases may be required on entry e.g. disabled ticket.

Online tickets get you entrance into Folly Farm only, extra charges apply to some of our optional attractions.

We’re sorry but you can’t use discount vouchers, promotions or any other offers when you purchase tickets online including Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

Because under 2s are free you don’t need to a ticket for them to gain entry.

Zoo animal experiences

Animal experiences must be pre-booked and redeemed within 12 months from the date of purchase.

For safety reasons, minimum ages apply to our animal experiences. Penguin and giraffe experiences are for children over the age of eight. Rhino experiences are for children over the age of ten and lion experiences are only available for those over the age of 16. Children under the age of 14 must bring an adult but that adult doesn’t need to buy an experience.

Animal experiences must be pre-booked as there are a limited number of spaces available daily (four giraffe, two penguin, two lion and two rhino each day). You can pre-book by ringing 01834 812731 between 9am and 5pm. A booking confirmation email will be sent to you so please bring this with you on the day along with your online animal experience voucher.

There will be other people taking part in the experience and please note the penguin experience takes place during the public feeding talk.

The online animal experience ticket doesn’t include entrance to Folly Farm so this must also be booked online or paid for at the entrance gate.

Spectators are welcome to watch the animal experience from the public areas but can’t enter the enclosures unless they are accompanying someone under the age of 14. Spectators will have to pay the park admission price.

Sensible footwear should be worn as our enclosures may be slippery. Old clothes you don’t mind getting giraffe slobber, meat or fish on would be advisable.

I’m afraid we cannot guarantee the animals will want to feed, Hugo isn’t fussed by stick feeds and rhinos can be particularly stubborn. Please also note whilst our penguins are breeding or molting their appetites are limited.

The experiences are fully accessible to disabled users but please feel free to ring to discuss any requirements.

We reserve the right to cancel or move an animal experience for operational reasons, you will offered an alternative date or time.

We ask for 24 hours notice if you can no longer take part in an experience you have pre-booked, so we can make your space available to another visitor. You will need to ring the booking office again to re-book before your gift voucher expires.

Some of our enclosures feature webcams which are streamed live on our website, at the time of booking you will be asked if you consent to the fact you may appear on these webcam streams whilst taking part in your experience.

Animal adoptions

Animal adoptions last for one year from the date they are purchased.

We aim to send your adoption gift to you within five working days but please allow for delays at busier times such as Christmas and Easter. It will arrive by Royal Mail signed for delivery, so a signature will be required.

We’ll update the thank you board by the enclosure with the names of new adopters at the end of each month.

Our animal adoptions are for a type of animal rather than a specific named animal. This is because it may be recommended an animal is moved to another zoo as part of an endangered species breeding programme. Should an animal movement or death occur which means we no longer have a particular species at Folly Farm you will be offered an alternative animal for the remainder of the adoption period.

If you purchase an adoption with an entrance ticket your gift pack will include one day entry ticket for you to visit your adopted animal which is valid for one year from the date the adoption is purchased. Anyone who comes with you will need to purchase a day entry ticket.

Animal adoptions are non-transferable to other people.

UK postage is included in the price of an adoption but please contact us for a postage quote if you’re outside of the UK mainland.

10% of the profit from animal adoptions is donated to one of our conservation partners. You can read more about the conservation work we do here.

Annual passes

Annual passes can be issued as an individual pass per person or with all persons who have purchased an annual pass issued on one pass. Where individual passes are issued all of the following information must be supplied, but where a joint pass is issued only one individual on the pass needs to supply the following information:

Title
First name
Last name
Postcode
Contact email address
A photograph must be taken of ALL persons on the annual pass

When an annual pass is purchased the annual pass holder acknowledges that the processing of their personal data is necessary for the performance of our contract with them, therefore enabling them to obtain and use their annual pass. For full details on how and why we process this data please see our privacy policy.

Where a disabled annual pass has been purchased, the pass holder acknowledges that we will be collecting sensitive personal data (e.g health information regarding a disability or impairment) and that this information has been given deliberately and voluntarily by the pass holder.

If an annual pass is being purchased for an individual under the age of 16, in doing so the parent/guardian purchasing the pass gives consent for the processing of the child’s data.

Annual passes are valid for one year from date of purchase, whatever time of year you buy them. We also give you a month grace period to redeem your pass.

Annual passes get you entrance into Folly Farm only, extra charges apply to some of our optional attractions.

We ask our annual pass holders to check our opening times before you visit, as we close mid-week during the winter months.

Our annual pass cards carry your photo, so they can’t be used by anyone else.

You should bring your annual pass every time you visit. We’re sorry but there’s a small admin charge if you forget it.

Lost annual passes can be replaced at the park (a new photo will need to be taken) and we we’re sorry but we have to charge £5 for a new one.

Annual pass holders under the age of 14 still need to bring an adult with them.

Unless otherwise stated an annual pass cannot be purchased in conjunction with any other promotional offer. We’re sorry but this includes Tesco Clubcard Days Out vouchers which cannot be used as payment for or toward annual passes.

Annual passes may not be able to be used for any special paid-for events so please check before you visit.

To upgrade to an annual pass and get your entrance fee refunded, you need to keep hold of your receipt. This can only be done on the same day as your visit.

Our general park rules and terms and conditions apply to annual pass holders as well.

Special offers

Our Boomerang offer is for full-paying visitors only. We’re sorry but it doesn’t apply to those who’ve already had a reduced entry offer e.g. group bookings, online discount etc.

To get our Boomerang offer, you need to keep hold of your receipt and get a ticket stamped before you leave, just ask our staff on your way out. We’ll ask you to provide some form of ID when we stamp your Boomerang ticket. This can be a bank card or driving licence but you must bring this back to the park with you for your return visit.

Our Boomerang offer is non-transferable, so only the people who originally paid full price can return for half price.

Tesco Clubcard Days Out vouchers can be used as payment for, or towards, our full price day entry tickets only. We can’t give you change if you overpay and they can only be used at the entrance and not to purchase tickets online at the discounted rate.

We can now accept the electronic vouchers emailed to you by Tesco, just print out the voucher email and bring it with you. We are still able to accept valid postal vouchers at present.

Tesco tokens can’t be used for our annual passes, group bookings or the return visit on our Boomerang offer. Nor can they be used for fairground tokens or in our gift shop or in conjunction with any other other.

We’re sorry but we don’t take part in the Restaurant Rewards scheme so you can’t use your Tesco Restaurant Vouchers to buy food at Folly Farm.

Group visits

We’re sorry but Tesco Clubcard Days Out vouchers cannot be used as payment for a group booking.

There needs to be at least 15 paying visitors in your group. This means you can’t count annual pass holders or children under two.

Group bookings must be paid for on the day in one transaction. Please have your final group numbers ready on arrival.

Groups should be pre-booked by calling 01834 812731.

School visits

Our special school rate applies to school, meithrin and Flying Start groups only.

We’re happy to offer this rate on weekdays during school term times.

We ask schools to pre-book their visit in advance by calling 01834 812731.

We offer our adult school rate to college and university students but we’re sorry the free adult ratio doesn’t apply.

Competitions

Please read our competition rules carefully. If you enter our competitions we’ll assume you have read them and agree to them.

You need to be aged 16 or over to enter our competitions and living in the UK.

Closing dates for competitions will be published on the competition posts. We reserve the right to change the closing date.

We’re sorry but prizes cannot be transferred to another person and they cannot be exchanged for another prize or cash.

Only one entry per person please.

Please read our privacy and cookies policies to find out how we collect information about you when you enter our competitions.

If you win we will notify you by email or through social media. If we don’t hear back from you within two weeks we reserve the right to offer the prize to someone else.

If a prize is no longer available we reserve the right to replace with a different prize.

We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time and we can apply different rules to a specific competition.

One child goes free offer voucher

We would allow one child free admission with every two full paying adults on the gate, on surrender of the valid offer voucher.

Offer will be valid only for the dates included on the voucher.

The offer is applicable to children aged 2-15 accompanied by two full paying adults on the gate. Children under two years old gain free entry under our standard entry policy. 16 plus is regarded as an adult.

Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer, inc. Tesco Clubcard Days Out, group discount, online discount.

Vouchers are for single use only and will be retained by admission staff.